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The myth of meritocracy has successfully propagandized to an incredible degree. No argument there. Think about the implications of that. There are people barel

by jmyeet 1y ago

The myth of meritocracy has successfully propagandized to an incredible degree. No argument there. Think about the implications of that. There are people barely able to survive who will defend tax cuts for Jeff Bezos. These are modern day serfs. The believe the current economic order is good actually despite their bad personal circumstances. In fact, any bad personal cricumstances are the fault of [insert bogeyman group here] (eg migrants, trans people, black people, women). And nobody seems to think about the period of history they fetishize (the 1950s) had the highest marginal tax rate of 91%. The Democratic Party in the US is absolutely complicit in all of this. They've intentionally chosen to quash any worker momentum and absolutely refuse to address any of the legitimate material concerns of working people.

readthenotes1 1y ago
"And nobody seems to think about the period of history they fetishize (the 1950s) had the highest marginal tax rate of 91%." Don't forget that it also had the highest level of tax dodging available through various mechanisms. If you think the lengths people go to now are extreme to avoid taxes-- think about what they did were willing to do then.
- diatone 1y ago
  As a non American I’d love to hear about this, any leads I can explore?
  - BirAdam 1y ago
    Well, for one, people who owned small/medium sized businesses would put effectively their entire family on payroll to cut the businesses’ earnings and lower their tax bill.
  - pjc50 1y ago
    Offshore tax havens is the usual one. Panama papers put only a small dent in that. All sorts of stuff that's been cracked down on in recent years, like "take your salary through a one person company as dividends". UK had a scheme where people would take out ""loans"" from their employer that would then be "forgiven". I believe this one blew up Rangers football club. Fun UK example from the 70s: the tax on car parts was much lower than the luxury tax on cars, so people invented the "kit car" which you assembled yourself: the Caterham 7. Still niche popularity today.
twoodfin 1y ago
The current economic order is good. https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MEHOINUSA672N https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MEHOINUSA672N https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LES1252881600Q https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LES1252881600Q
- mathiaspoint 1y ago
  Go look at the labor participation chart. It's bad enough people are giving up.
  - twoodfin 1y ago
    https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LNS11300060 https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LNS11300060 Minus the Covid blip, not lately!
    - mathiaspoint 1y ago
      That's a result of secular growth in female participation. If you remove that it's almost monotonically declining.
      - twoodfin 1y ago
        “If you remove the workers who are showing increasing participation, the labor force participation rate is declining.” Sure.
- jmyeet 1y ago
  Well that's one interpretation of those charts. Here's another: Real income has barely increased since 1980, as in 10% or less. You may look at that and say well that's good because it's real income but it isn't. There are substitution issues with CPI. The housing component is lagging, relies on "in-place" rent and doesn't really reflect quality or size or housing affordability (just rents). Look at other measures, like homelessness increasing 18% in 2024, consumer confidence and how for the last 20 years people have flocked to any political candidate that promises meaningful change, from Obama to Bernie to Trump to Zohran. HN in particular and tech in general is a bubble. It insulates you to a large degree from the median experience. We are profoundly privileged. But privilege convinces some that everything is meritocracy when each of us is profoundly fortunate to be where we are (eg being born in a Western country, having a relatively stable family life, having access to education, speaking English and so on). It's why the ZIP code you were born in is possibly the biggest predictor of your success [1]. [1]: https://www.lisc.org/our-resources/resource/opportunity-atlas-shows-effect-childhood-zip-codes-adult-success/ https://www.lisc.org/our-resources/resource/opportunity-atla...

by jmyeet 1y ago

readthenotes1 1y ago

"And nobody seems to think about the period of history they fetishize (the 1950s) had the highest marginal tax rate of 91%." Don't forget that it also had the highest level of tax dodging available through various mechanisms. If you think the lengths people go to now are extreme to avoid taxes-- think about what they did were willing to do then.

diatone 1y ago
As a non American I’d love to hear about this, any leads I can explore?
- BirAdam 1y ago
  Well, for one, people who owned small/medium sized businesses would put effectively their entire family on payroll to cut the businesses’ earnings and lower their tax bill.
- pjc50 1y ago
  Offshore tax havens is the usual one. Panama papers put only a small dent in that. All sorts of stuff that's been cracked down on in recent years, like "take your salary through a one person company as dividends". UK had a scheme where people would take out ""loans"" from their employer that would then be "forgiven". I believe this one blew up Rangers football club. Fun UK example from the 70s: the tax on car parts was much lower than the luxury tax on cars, so people invented the "kit car" which you assembled yourself: the Caterham 7. Still niche popularity today.

twoodfin 1y ago

The current economic order is good. https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MEHOINUSA672N https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MEHOINUSA672N https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LES1252881600Q https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LES1252881600Q

mathiaspoint 1y ago
Go look at the labor participation chart. It's bad enough people are giving up.
- twoodfin 1y ago
  https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LNS11300060 https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LNS11300060 Minus the Covid blip, not lately!
  - mathiaspoint 1y ago
    That's a result of secular growth in female participation. If you remove that it's almost monotonically declining.
    - twoodfin 1y ago
      “If you remove the workers who are showing increasing participation, the labor force participation rate is declining.” Sure.
jmyeet 1y ago
Well that's one interpretation of those charts. Here's another: Real income has barely increased since 1980, as in 10% or less. You may look at that and say well that's good because it's real income but it isn't. There are substitution issues with CPI. The housing component is lagging, relies on "in-place" rent and doesn't really reflect quality or size or housing affordability (just rents). Look at other measures, like homelessness increasing 18% in 2024, consumer confidence and how for the last 20 years people have flocked to any political candidate that promises meaningful change, from Obama to Bernie to Trump to Zohran. HN in particular and tech in general is a bubble. It insulates you to a large degree from the median experience. We are profoundly privileged. But privilege convinces some that everything is meritocracy when each of us is profoundly fortunate to be where we are (eg being born in a Western country, having a relatively stable family life, having access to education, speaking English and so on). It's why the ZIP code you were born in is possibly the biggest predictor of your success [1]. [1]: https://www.lisc.org/our-resources/resource/opportunity-atlas-shows-effect-childhood-zip-codes-adult-success/ https://www.lisc.org/our-resources/resource/opportunity-atla...